Overrated Openings

I thought that was the point?

1.e4 e5?! seriously the symetrical response is sooooooooooooooooooooo overrated. sicilians aren't overrated at all I believe that they are underrated for how sound they are.

No, and no.

Pretty much every top grandmaster plays e5.

Lots of top grandmasters play the sicilian too but e5 is more popular. With the sicilian black is risking to get his head blown off, just because Kasparov makes the sicilian look easy doesn't mean it is.

1...e5 more popular? since when? better stats lie with the sicilian. And your second comment is a stereotypical interpretation of the sicilian many lines can be positional and/or quiet.

Sure lots of lines can be positional, but they're still riskier than e5. Black is almost always behind in development, and concedes a space advantage.

Take a look at any recent supertournament, e5 is more popular among the world's elite.

I'm not saying the sicilian is unsound, I play the opening myself. But your comments in this thread illustrate my point perfectly, the sicilian is generally overrated by most amateurs, and e5 underrated.

Ok game on pride where your mouth is I want a match not an opening thing I just dislike being called an ameteur we can discuss the conditions of the match soon. I really beg to differ with the whole e5 is more popular maybe time ago but sicilians are the modern cure to 1.e4 it isn't overrated it is simply blacks best shot.

For me, the Queens Gambit is the most overrated opening for white. The most underated for white is the Goering Gambit. The most overrated for black is the Nimzo-Indian, and the most underrated for black is the Hippo.

Oh, you're 15...now I understand.

In my database of games from the past six years in which both players were over 2400, 1.e4 was met with:

1...e5 12671 times (Black scores 45%)

1...c5 23911 times (Black scores 45%)

1...e6 6140 times (Black scores 44%)

1...c6 3913 times (Black scores 46%)

From this limited data, we see that the Sicilian is the most popular response, but that Satan's own Caro-Kann is perhaps underrated.

The Sicilian Dragon is overated.  Fact of life.  Anyone who disagrees with me can go stick their head in the Vote Chess Archives.  It's ABSURD how many people are willing to play it again and again.  Majority rule is not always good.

Wow...I always thought e5 was the more popular, I must be losing my memory in my old age. Still, seeing as black scores the same playing e5 and c5, e5 should be every bit as good as c5...and therefore underrated.

I think people are pretty anxious to play both sides of the dragon. For every diehard black dragon player there is a guy saying "Fischer said beating the dragon was easy! LOLZ!"

I think the fact that so many people enjoy it is a testament to the amount of fun the Yugoslav attack in the dragon is!

1...e5 is not as dynamic as 1...c5, and doesn't attampt to migitate White's opening advantage. 1...e5 is for players who have an exceptionaly good memory (there are TONS of lines after this move), are behind times a little bit (they still think Stienitz's Equillibrium Theory is the norm in modern chess), or have absolutely no backbone. (they don't believe that Black can play for a win)

Pretty much every defence by Black concedes a lead in development to White (even though there are some lines in the Sicilian which actually put Black ahead in development), but the Sicilian certainly does not concede anything the White. Black is not interested in occupying the center, he wants to control it from a distance. That's why it's referred to as a "modern" opening.

True! c5 is more dynamic than most e5 lines, and most lines of the sicilian are definitely better than most e5 lines if you want to play for a win with black. All this of course means that you're more likely to lose as black as well.

Look I'm not saying the sicilian isnt as good as e5, it's just that amateurs tend to append this godly status upon it. Just look at how many "which variation of the sicilian should I play?" or "lines in the sicilian" threads there are here on the forums. How many "which variation of the Ruy should I play as black?" threads do you see? A heck of a lot less!

Both are great openings, but e5 usually doesnt get it's dues.

I think the most overrated Black opening is the King's indian defence. You make a Fianchetto with your first 3 moves and block out the bishop with the 5th/6th. How is this sane?!!!! I always do well against KID.

On the c5 versus e5 question, c5 is better, because e5 gives white more fun and more control, but its also overated because everyone thinks the sicilian is God's answer to the game (It might be but thats no arguement!!!).

Hehe...those of you who think the KID is overrated should have a look at this clip of Korchnoi's "my life for chess" DVD. He is famous for his disdain for the KID.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8k3TvfhC6s&feature=related

Thank you for the good and helpful responses. Especially to you zyrab. However i just wanted to point out that if you have a pick for the most underrated opening plz check my content and go post in the underrated opening forum.

P.S Anti-centerpawnism owns! :) 

I think the advance variation in the french is overrated.  I usually have no trouble equalizing.  

It's wrong to call the Sicilian overrated; it's the whole reason why so many grandmasters are shifting over to 1. d4

It's wrong to call the Ruy Lopez overrated because it really is one of the best openings out there for White (and pretty good for Black too)

In my opinion, there is no such thing as an overrated opening. The traditional openings, 1. e4 and 1. d4 really are that good. However, with the advent of the hypermodern movement (showing us the flank openings are more than playable) and the proliferation of chess engines (showing us that at the top one has to rely on strategic piece development in combination with tactics) anything, I mean almost anything, is playable. Therefore, it's not so much that anything is overrated, but all the other openings other than those that start out with 1. e4 and 1. d4 are underplayed.

Seriously, computers can win with anything. They can open 1. a3 or 1. h4 or 1. Na3 and make Anand and Kasparov look like Patzers!

I think the whole opening phase of the game is over rated, most openings lead to a roughly equal middle game, who care's what you play in the opening.